Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Vice Chairperson Brown, Commissioner Tuggate, Commissioner Eiselman, Commissioner Cson, Commissioner Walters Gil, Commissioner Mlullen, Commissioner Tatch here, Commissioner Whitehead. We have quorum. So move.

Mr. Chair, the mics are not working. I can find. Ah, there we are. Love the hum. Am I the only one with the feedback? Moving on to approval of the We approved the agenda. Got that done. Approval of the minutes from the last meeting. So move second. Are there any corrections?

Be there. No corrections. All in favor? I

I have it. Moving on to item 4 A planning commission. Oh, first I want to thank everybody for giving me the larger print. I really appreciate that. That facilitated me answering stuff much more quickly. I was trying to wait for the mayor to have a seat. Moving on to communication and correspondence. A extension of the site plan approval. Welcome, Madam Mayor.

Thank you. Excuse me. 5A extension of site plan approval. conversion of of offices to mixuse development 7 excuse me 21790 Koolage Highway. Want to take us through that?

Yes, thank you. Uh this is a request to extend the site plan approval for the conversion of the office building into a mixed use of residential and office building. The site plan approval is set to expire today. The applicant indicated that he has been awaiting potential awards from Meshda and Oakland County. They have a bank commitment up to 70% of the loan to value or loan to cost. We approved the extension of the site plan for an additional 12 months. The extension will expire on March 7, 2027, a year from today. one year from today. Yes.

And you're looking for an approval from us. Uh we approved it just approved. No action required from Mr. Chair, Madame Mayor. Um the bank is giving them 70% of the loan to cost. Yes. It's either loan to cost or loan to value. And uh the other 30% is supposed to come from the grants. That's what he's hoping for. Yes. But he he also have the money like it depends on how much he receive grants. So he will cover the rest. Oh yes. Thank you. Thank

So you said that's been approved, correct? Yes. So you need no action from us? No. Moving on to 6A, public hearing to consider the proposed special land use. You submitted by PEA Group on behalf of YA Beth. You excuse me, pronounce it for me. Yehuda.

Yehuda. Thank you. Thank folks you on scope school at 14400 West 10M Road.

Yeah, thank you. This is a special land use request for a proposed addition to the Yeshiva Beth Yehuda School for Girls. The school historic historically served as a preschool uh and high school for girls. With the preschool program relocated to the new building, the applicant proposes to maintain the existing high school and construct a gymnasium. As indicated in the staff report, the project meets the zoning ordinance requirements with conditions. The special land use and site plan approval are contingent upon receiving variances from the zoning board of appeals for the north and west setback setbacks and off streetet parking spaces. We recommend approval of the special land use and site plan subject to the 11 conditions. Uh Amy Akerman um with PR group is available to answer any questions you may have. Good afternoon. There you go. My name is Amy Aman. I'm from PA Group and I'm happy to answer any questions. Do you Would you like me to give you a quick rundown after that was a pretty good assessment of of what's going on?

I got your name, but I need your address. Oh, my address. 1849 uh Pondrun, Auburn Hills. Thank you. Are there any questions? You want to give us a rundown?

Sure, I'd love to. Thank you. We appreciate the opportunity to present our project. The school's been open for over 10 years. As Salam mentioned, um it was been it was used as a high school and a preschool. It's now going to just service high school uh females. The larger recreation that's being proposed tonight is to accommodate uh high school use. The addition to the building is a traditional ceiling, a more of a traditional ceiling height, a little higher and a little bit bigger uh to accommodate the high school students. Uh the gym will be used during the school day for uh recreation and for uh anticipated athlet no anticipated athletic competitions will be at the gym. So no evening or or use like that. Architecturally and aesthetically, it will match the school as it exists. So, it'll be the same color, the same materials. Um, we chose to locate the gym on the rear of the school because it made the most sense with the existing school and it'll visually won't impact 10 mile road. Uh, the height of the gym meets the code and any roof equipment will be screened per the code. the that's a quick overview of any addition of the addition. If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Um, mayor, thank you. Um, uh, is it it's not blocking Emanuel or any entrance to Emanuel? No, it will not. So, it's going to parallel that that ingress road that comes in from there from 10 mile. Correct. Okay. And it's a little f That's a playground now and it will be a building.

Well, yeah. So, they have that outdoor patio area, but the the this is proposed on the back of the building. So, we're not eliminating any parking. The only area that it's taking that's going to take up right now is the circulation that that circulation that comes around for drop off. That's going to get a shortened a little bit, but other than that, that's the only change that really is is occurring. So, we're not losing any parking. We're not changing the circulation on site. Everything will stay the same, and we're allowing fire access to the north. So, the drop off will still be there.

Correct. The drop off will still exist. Mr. Chair, I have a comment and maybe a question. So, my comment is I just want to make sure I understand the where the building is going to go exactly. So, it's going to be the front Part of the frontage will be on church, right? No. Yeah. Well, I guess so. Looking at the building from from 10mi road, the west the far west side of the building where that road comes up. Okay. The building will be off the back of that. So, it you'll you'll Yes. You'll see it sort of fronts 10 Mile Road, but it's quite a ways away from 10 Mile Road. Just a little or from church, excuse me. Gotcha. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I can I do I did bring a couple graphics if you want to. So, is it showing somewhere to me? Oh, okay. There. Oh, thank you so much. So, the building proposed addition is right here. If you can see my cursor moving. Yeah. So, none of that was building before. Correct. It was some It was green space and a little bit of drive lane and to the to the west here's that because that's offsite. So that drive that driveway is off the west here. So we're not impacting that at all. Quite a bit. Quite a bit. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. And there's a little oval thing in the middle of the parking lot that you're rellandscaping. Correct. So yeah, we that has to shorten a little bit. Not too much. We're not going to change that too much, but we will Yeah, we'll we're going to clean that up and put some new landscaping in it.

Any other questions? Um, one for the staff. It's like less parking than a high school requires, but it works out okay. Can you explain that? Yes, it's with the parking because it's reduced the number of the students. Uh it will work out but they still have to get a variance from the zoning board of appeals. And why will it work out? Because the students get dropped off and they don't park cars there.

Because we have now less student than they used to have before. It used to be a high school and preschool and now it's going to be only high school uh for girls students and it's the same number of classrooms. They're not increasing the number of classrooms. So the real benefit is because preschool the teacher to student ratio is quite high and so all the teachers that would drive for the preschool are no longer going to be parking here. So there's probably where the biggest change will be. So, it actually reduces the use of cars that will be on there.

Any other questions before I open the public hearing? I do need to do that. Okay. Like to open the public hearing. If there's anyone who would like to speak in favor of or oppose to, you have a fivem minute limit. major issue.

Okay. I don't see any hands or bodies or anyone moving. So that may be a good thing. All right. I will close the public hearing. Let us now can I have you looking for a motion? Yes. May I have a motion? So move. Second. It's been moved and second. May I have a roll call? Commissioner Eelman? Yes. Commissioner Selixson? Yes. Commissioner Tungate? Absolutely. Yes. Vice Chair Brown.

Yes. Commissioner Mlen, yes. Commissioner Tatch, yes. Motion carry. Very good. Thank you. We look forward to how quickly do you think this is going to happen? Jacob, is Jacob the one that's going to give that answer? Jacob, he needs to come on up. Jacob, can we have your name? and your address. Uh Jacob Manando, uh 65 University Drive, Pontiac, Michigan. Okay.

So, right now we are in going through these reviews. We have zoning board at the end of this month. Um we're finalizing documents right now to go out to bid. So, some of the materials right now are going to be a little bit longer, but hopefully going to start end of summer, uh early fall to get this under construction, if not by the latest. And you are saying your construction period will be how long before it's completed depending on weather say 6 to 8 months but probably closer to six. Okay. Very good. Mr. Chair. Yes. I actually have a question for the executive director if he'd like to come to the podium please. May we have your name? Uh Shragi Meyers 25800 Southwood Drive.

All right. Good evening sir. Good evening. Do you intend on using the city's um resources to do the permit reviews building? Put a sales pitch in. We would love it if you would. That would be I would love to entertain any pitches. So you have my email address. I'll send it over and um Sure. Thank you. Any more any more solicitations? Very good. I guess I'm moving on to B.

We had our vote. So, everything is good on that. Yes. Shake your head. Yes. Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Moving on to B. planning commission regarding proposed special land use submitted by PEA group. Uh, no, we just did that. I'm sorry. We just did that. Just to move to Yeah. Well, then I'm Mr. Seven. Oh, I have different. Yes, I am to seven. Item seven. Yeah, I have a defender.

Okay. I just want to make sure 7A new business site plan review for cultural center MIVA Mikvah building 14850 Lincoln Street. Yes. Take us through that please.

Yes. Thank you. Uh this is a site plan review for a cultural center Mikvah building. The applicant proposes to build a new twostory uh building which will include a small library and women's mikvah on the first floor, men's mikvah on the basement floor and the youth activity area and an off open office space on the second floor. The property is located immediately west of the congregation Dove Ben Noim property. The cultural center is intended to be used and to benefit the congregation. The site plan shows a significant improvement in landscaping as indicated in the staff report. The site plan meets the zoning ordinance requirements with conditions. The applicant also need to obtain variances from the zoning board of appeals to the north and rear setbacks the impre impervious surfaces off street parking spaces as well as the light intensity of one wall-mounted light. We recommend approval of the site plan subject to the eight conditions and we have Rabbi um Costeritz is available to answer any questions you may have. Would you come forward, Reba?

Would you give us your name? Do we have any questions for the rabbi? You mean we made him walk up and you have no questions for him? Um, Madame Mayor, having nothing to do with the vote, just curious, does this mikvah service only this one congregation primarily? But anyone, you know, we it's like the synagogue. It's mainly serviced by Okupak by the residents who's close by, but it's open to anyone who wants to who wants to come.

So, the answer is both. But, you know, Saturdays, for example, holidays when you can't drive, it's only going to be servicing this area. only servicing but mostly probably but it's open to anyone who wants to come. Okay, thank you. Any other questions for the rabbi? Thank you for your quickly walking up here and thank you. Thank you everyone. Thank you for your kind service. We need people like you in our community. Together we both have the same goals to make the community a better for all the residents and it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you everyone. Thank you. What do you need from us? Do we need a vote? May I have a roll call, please? You need a motion.

I need a motion. Excuse me. So, so moved. Second. It's been moved and second. May I have a roll call now? Who? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Moving on to site plan review for Glow Works Wholesale 2116 Greenfield Road. Could you take us through it?

Yes, thank you. Uh this is a site plan review for Glow Works. Glow Works sells uh toys, gifts, closeout sport apparel and hot market items to the public and smaller uh resellers. Currently, Office Depot occupies the front portion of the building while Glow Works occupies the remaining space. Glow Works received site plan approval in March 2022. The original original approval included the development of the vacant property to the north with a warehouse building. The vacant parcel was not developed as approved and Glow Works commenced operation without complying with the conditions of the approval. The applicant indicated that they don't intend to proceed with the development of the vacant parcel due to financial constraints. the site plan does not uh meet the off- streetet parking requirements. The applicant submitted a parking study which found that uh the observed peak parking demand for the overall development was 24 spaces uh which is significantly lower than the 173 spaces required by the zoning ordinance. The site currently provides 90 spaces. The planning commission has the authority to approve reduction to the off of the off- streetet parking spaces up to 50% of the required uh spaces with the provision of a parking study. The staff finds that the site meets the zoning ordinance requirements with conditions. We recommend approval of the site plan uh subject to the K 10 conditions specified in the staff report and we

have Robin Robin Razak also she's the office manager is available to answer any questions you may have.

May I ask a question of you? Why was the parking so high that we we needed to bring it down? Uh so that's uh based on what we have on the zoning ordinance but sometimes it's good to have a parking study because the parking study could show the exactly what is the need for uh this specific use of the office depot and glow works. So that's how they observe the parking and they see the the demand. Other retails may have more parking spaces, may require more parking spaces, but this specific um use uses with the Office Depot and Glow Works shows that they need less parking spaces.

All right. Very good. Any other questions? Of course, Mayor, Mr. Chair, um it's an awful two to three retail customers a day. They have toys, gifts, and closeout items, and they only get a couple. How do they stay in business? Uh, that's Goen, if you want to answer. Hi. Here comes Here comes a tough question.

Yeah, really tough question. So, we've actually been in business for 25 years. Um, we were in Warren for most of those years. And, uh, our main source of business isn't retail, it's wholesale. We wholesale to Cedar Point, SeaWorld, Busushch Gardens, all of the theme parks coast to coast, as well as all of the zoos. Um, and then we also have like a showroom if people wanted to come in and buy ones and twos. We have a ton of people um locally that do come in and buy stuff for their kids uh bat mitzvah um parties,

birthday parties, all of those little novelties that you would buy. So people can come in and buy Yeah, absolutely. Yep. Okay. Thank you. Um uh question for the staff. Isn't Office Depot going out and do we know what's going in? Uh not so. I know. I know that they are still there, but no, Office Depot is They just resigned their 5-year lease. They did. So, yeah, they're not going anywhere. Oh, yeah. I'll be. Huh? Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. So, everything is stable the way it is. Thank you.

That's it. Any other questions? May I have a motion? Second. Mayor Ro call. Commissioner TK. Yes. Commissioner. Yes. Commissioner. Yes. Vice Chair Brown. Yes. Commissioner Tate. Yes. Commissioner Eisen. Yes. Motion carried.

Motion carried. Thank you for giving us that information. We really appreciate the fact that you're there. Moving on to item eight, planning commission matters for discussion. Mr. Chair, I don't have a question, but I do have a comment I I want to um give to Salam. I want to say welcome back. Welcome home. Salam just returned from overseas. We were worried about you, so we're glad you're back. Why don't you send a jet to get her? I say why don't you send a jet to get her? We could send a city jet. Oh, well that's what I'm saying.

I I did send a jet. It's an invisible one, but I did send it. Oh, so she flew with her wings.

Okay. Uh I have a comment. I enjoyed uh the discipline of the firemen and the police officers. We had a fire over on Burton in one of the larger houses. It is a scary thought that when you're laying there taking a nap and the smoke starts coming into your house and you believe that your house is on fire and when you jump up and you realize that you have your alarm on and the fire engine is in your driveway. So, you believe it's your house

that is having a problem. But they were very good and they knocked it down early. Uh it was an event for that day and they were completely professional and I was standing out there in no shoes and my neighbors more worried about me standing there with no clothes on. I said, "Hey, I had the smoke was in the house. What can I tell you?" But they did a very professional job. And it was good to see how professionally they moved, how good they were, and how quickly they extinguished the fire. So we didn't lose the house because the winds were blowing rather hard. And that's why most of the houses east of there were filling with smoke. So, but my commendation to them.

Question about your comment. Yes. What was what caused the fire? Who knows? Well, they were more concerned about me catching cold because I was out there in a t-shirt. Mr. Brown, don't you think you need to go inside? We haven't discovered what the cause of the fire was. So, that's something that we'll do. I'm quite sure they are reporting to the city on the fact that we had one, but I wanted to give them accommodation for what they did because it was quick and it really was silent. But thank you. Any other comments? No, Sullivson, we're done.

You know, with all we have tonight, I can't even get on your face. No, you can. Yeah, that's right.